Study of N-acetylcysteine's Anti-Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis Activity in Vitro

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effects of N-acetylcysteine(NAC) on the inflammatory response and insulin resistance in the model of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis(NASH) induced by free fatty acid(FFA) in L02 cells.METHODS L02 cells were treated with FFA to establish NASH cell model; The growth inhibition ratio of NAC was measured by MTT to select the safe drug concentration. The fat deposition in cells was observed by oil-red staining method. The content of IL-8, TNF-α and glucose transporter-4(GLUT-4) were tested by Elisa; And the content of cells' insulin receptor(IR) were tested by Western blot and Elisa.RESULTS The growth inhibition ratio was only 34.10% under the NAC's maximum concentration of 10 600.0 μg·mL^-1, so 3 treatment groups were seted with the NAC concentration of 100, 150 and 250 μg·mL^-1. The steatosis ratio of the model group was up to 82.45%, but the treatment groups' ratio felled to 61.77%, 68.08% and 79.28% significantly(P<0.01) with a concentration dependence; The treatment groups' concentration of GLUT-4 and IR was increased significantly(P<0.01) compared with the model group, but significant concentration decreases of IL-8 and TNF-α were observed(P<0.01).CONCLUSION NAC has a tinny cytotoxicity. It can decrease NASH cells' steatosis ratio and especially improve their insulin resistant and inflammatory response level, showing potential value on NASH treatment.